UK Court Affirms Invalidity Of Gene Patent In Lilly Suit

By Jocelyn Allison

Law360, New York (February 09, 2010, 4:22 PM ET) -- In one of the first British cases to deal with the limits of the utility requirement for biotech patents, a U.K. appeals court has struck down a Human Genome Sciences Inc. patent for a gene sequence in a dispute with Eli Lilly and Co.

The appeals court ruling Tuesday upheld a lower court decision finding the patent invalid for lack of industrial application, despite a December ruling from an appeal board at the European Patent Office that the same patent was valid.